Home | Services | Directions | Contact
The Agave Parry. This Agave grows here with little care. The spread of suckers is slow enough to be easily under control. This one was put into the ground about four years ago. If you want an Agave that survives easily on the eastern side of the Sierra, pick the Agave Parry.
All Agaves are of the Amaryllis family of plants, but they don't all have the same habits and demands. The ones you see along streets and highways in California are gigantic specimens with tall flower stems, sometimes 25 feet high. The gigantic ones don't do as well on the eastern side of the Sierra. They don't enjoy the cold weather.
The solution is to plant the Agave Parry. It grows to be as wide as a dinner plate and will produce some little ones to leave be or plant elsewhere.
They love a full day of sun and are fine with extended neglect. Other Agaves do well outdoors during the warm months of the year, but the Agave Parry prefers to live outdoors year round. They do well in containers, too. Give your Agave a good sized container -- at least 16 inches -- to allow plenty growth . They will sit there and look beautiful for a long time. And if they ever do grow too big for the pot, they can easily be planted into the ground. Use gloves and a good thickness of newsprint for protection from the spines. Ultimately, they aren't very mean, just don't nudge them with bare feet and don't go trying to kiss them; you'll put your eye out.
Aloe (Liliaceae) is of the Lily family. Agave (Amaryllidaceae) is of the Amaryllis family. But the Aloe and the Agave are often compared to one another. The Agave is often called an Aloe. The look is similar, but the Aloe is much more fleshy, much more 'medicinal' in its appearance and its use. Some of the Aloes are considered to be "power plants," able to reverse aging. Especially familiar is the Aloe vera plant, revered for its healing powers with burns and cuts. Humans and other animals drink the juice for rejunivation, power and a return to health. Aloe vera will grow outdoors in a bright, though shady place during the warmer months of the year. They will need to return to the indoors before a hint of frost. They can take it indoors over the winter, even with limited light. Watering over winter is minimal.
The Agave Parry, on the other hand, is not for juicing. The flesh is much more leather like, much more prone to braving harsher conditions more like our own. The power of this particular plant isn't healing sunburn -- no -- this plant's power is much more subtle. It's like spotting a desert tortoise in a wash after swearing nothing was there a minute ago, more akin to sight and the warmth of sun and the weight of water, the sighting of a living thing that has so out adapted everything and everyone.
Amazon.com Widgets
